Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here he is with Colts owner/CEO Jim Irsay. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here he is with Colts owner/CEO Jim Irsay. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Colts head coach Chuck Pagano listens as Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here he is with Colts owner/CEO Jim Irsay. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here he is with Colts owner/CEO Jim Irsay. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Colts head coach Chuck Pagano listens as Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Here Ballard and his family pose for a photo with Colts owner/CEO Jim Irsay. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard addresses the media after he was introduced as the Indianapolis Colts new general manager Monday, January 30, 2017, afternoon at the Colts Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center. Colts cowner/CEO Jim Irsay,right, listens. Matt Kryger/IndyStar

Chris Ballard has spent two years constructing a team that is in the AFC playoffs' divisional round Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs (4:35 p.m., NBC). The Colts were 4-12 in his first season as general manager and started 1-5 this season. Indianapolis has won 10 of its past 11 games, including last weekend's wild-card round victory over the Houston Texans.

Here's what Colts fans should know about Ballard:

He was a quarterback and receiver

Ballard played quarterback in high school in Southeast Texas, but his only Division I shot came at Wisconsin, and he soon realized his only chance to get on the field was at receiver. The Badgers were struggling in the late 1980s under then-coach Barry Alvarez, and legend has it Ballard once tried to fight fans who were ridiculing the team.

“I can’t vouch for this story, but legend has it they had to escort Chris from the bleachers because he was wanting to fight everybody,” remembered Jay Norvell, Ballard’s position coach at Wisconsin.

Injuries shortened Ballard's playing career, but he served as a student assistant as a senior.

He started in the boonies

Ballard spent seven years on the coaching staff at Texas A&M-Kingsville, a Division II program. He worked with receivers and defensive backs before becoming the defensive coordinator. Ballard worked with three future NFL players and Al Harris, the Kansas City Chiefs' current secondary coach.

He was a Bear for a long time

Ballard broke into the NFL as a Chicago Bears scout in 2001. He primarily covered the Southwest and played a role in Bears teams that won four division titles and earned a Super Bowl XLI appearance (which they lost to the Colts).

“It just fit me,” Ballard has said. “I liked being on the road. I liked evaluating, really digging into who a player was as a person, figuring out how he was gonna fit.”

He knows the Chiefs very well

He spent four seasons in Kansas City starting in 2013, the fist two as director of player personnel and the next two as director of football operations. He assisted general manager John Dorsey.

The Chiefs finished 2-14 in 2012, and Ballard was part of a roster overhaul that saw them improve to 11-5 and earn a wild-card playoff spot the following season. Kansas City acquired these Pro Bowl performers between 2013-16: linebacker D.J. Alexander, receiver Tyreek Hill, tight end Travis Kelce and cornerback Marcus Peters. The Chiefs also obtained free agent quarterback Alex Smith in 2013.

He has hired two coaches. It was awkward.

Ballard's first coaching search was strange, to say the least. He chose New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, and the team announced an introductory news conference. McDaniels abruptly withdrew from the spot, leaving the Colts scrambling. Ballard restarted the process and hired Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich.

He's willing to make bold moves

One week before the start of the 2017 season, Ballard traded receiver Phillip Dorsett, a first-round pick entering his third season, to the New England Patriots for quarterback Jacoby Brissett. Brissett's experience had been limited to three games during Tom Brady's four-game suspension in 2016. Brissett played in the Colts season opener and started the rest of the season.

The GM traded the third overall pick in the 2018 draft to the New York Jets for the No. 6 pick and a couple of second-rounders. Ballard drafted guard Quenton Nelson at No. 6, and he is an All-Pro as a rookie. That deal also included the pick that yielded right tackle Braden Smith.

CLOSE

A look at the changes to the Indianapolis Colts' offensive and defensive lineups in the wake of free agency. There are 12 players on each side of the ball to reflect different situations the units may face.
Clark Wade/IndyStar

On the eve of this season, Ballard cut veteran linebacker John Simon, a top defensive holdover from the 2017 season. Ballard decided he would go with Anthony Walker, a second-year player who was injured much of his rookie season, and second-round draft pick Darius Leonard, who led the NFL in tackles and is an All-Pro.

He has lots of options in the offseason

The Colts are likely to have nine picks in the seven-round 2019 NFL Draft. Each Colts pick is in the bottom eight of each round. As a result of the Jets trade, they own another second-round pick, which is 34th overall. The Colts are expected to receive a fourth-round compensatory pick after losing receiver Donte Moncrief.

If Ballard wants to spend in free agency, he has more maneuverability than anyone in the league (more than $123 million, according to overthecap.com).